Lawyers group wanted higher insurance limits, writer says, to make more money down the road from suing companies

Despite a 70-percent approval rating and support from New York’s elected Democrats and Republicans alike, ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft still cannot operate outside of the five boroughs. This tragic legislative inaction is a testament to what happens when the powerful trial lawyers’ lobby gets involved in policy making.

This year, both houses of the state Legislature were poised to pass a bill allowing the app-based transportation networks to operate upstate and on Long Island. The measure was approved by the Republican-led Senate on June 17th, but the Assembly version was amended at the last minute to include excessively high insurance limits. Soon after, the press revealed that the New York State Trial Lawyers Association was behind the push for higher insurance limits.

Earlier this year, a Sienna College Research poll showed that the majority of New York residents support letting Uber and Lyft, hallmarks of the emerging sharing economy, offer their services statewide. Unfortunately, public opinion and bipartisan consensus are no match for dominant special interests.

Even with their close ally former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver out of the picture, the trial lawyers remain among the top influencers in the state. According to Politico, NYSTLA took the No. 2 position for largest donors to state-level campaigns in 2015. In 2014, Gov. Andrew Cuomo admitted that despite his position on the issue, it would be difficult to pass legislation reforming the trial lawyers-backed Scaffold Law because they are “the single most powerful political force in Albany.”

Their interests have been a detriment to ride-sharing and, as the governor noted, they oppose common sense reform to the only-in-New York Scaffold Law – another glaring example of how their influence can stifle the economy. The reality is that trial lawyers make a living suing the most economically productive among us, including small businesses and municipalities, and they are always looking for new ways to file more lawsuits. In the case of Uber and Lyft, the trial lawyers managed to squash a popular proposal and hinder innovation, just so they might make a few more dollars from suing ride-sharing companies when they are eventually allowed to operate statewide.

The writer is government affairs manager of the Lawsuit Reform Alliance of New York.